The pharmaceutical industry has for many years concerned itself with the efficient delivery of therapeutic agents. This problem may be attributed to the short clearance time of the agent in the body (short half-life), the location of the site of action or possibly the nature of the therapeutic agent itself, for example, its solubility, hydrophobicity etc. Thus, many developments and strategies have been adopted, including formulating the therapeutic agent so as to protect it from a hostile environment on route to its site of action, by for example, enterically coated tablets, controlled release devices and the like.
The development of peptide derived therapeutic agents has posed a further problem due their susceptibility to enzymatic degradation not only in the GI tract but also in the bloodstream. An example of how this problem has been addressed relates to the incorporation of the peptides into liposomes or polymeric microspheres that target the peptides to the lymph system.
A further related problem, especially for therapeutic agents that function intracellularly is the barrier posed by the cell membrane. Thus, it may be possible to increase the half life of the agent or ensure that it passes through the body without being degraded, but many agents must actually enter cells to exert their therapeutic effect.
European Patent 485578 discloses that the homeodomain and specifically, helix 3 of a homeobox peptide, particularly that derived from the Drosophila Antennapedia, is of use as an intracellular transport vector. The patent disclosed that a specific 57 amino acid sequence of a Drosophila Antennapedia homeopeptide (referred to as the pAntp peptide) was capable of penetrating fibroblasts and embryo cells (in vivo). Emphasis was placed upon the last 27 amino acids of the sequence that correspond with the helix 3 and 4. There is no description of the pAntp peptide being linked to any other peptide or therapeutic agent.
Subsequent disclosures (Derossi D et al., J Biol Chem (1994) 269, 10444-10450, Joliot A H et al., (1991) The New Biol 3, 1121-1134 and PNAS (1991) 88, 1864-1868, Perez F et al., J Cell Sci (1992) 102, 712-722), all disclose how a 16 amino acid synthetic peptide derived from the third helix of the Antennapedia homeodomain may be used for the intracellular delivery of bioactive products and antisense oligonucleotides. The amino acid sequence of use is RQIKIFQNRRMKWKK (SEQ ID No. 1) also known as Penetratin®.
In an effort to prevent the enzymatic cleavage of this peptide Brugidou J et al., (Biochem Biophys Res Comm (1995) 214(2), 685-693) prepared a retro-inverso form (D amino acids in reverse order) of SEQ ID No. 1, substituting the two isoleucine resides at positions 3 and 5 of penetratin with valine and adding a glycine residue at the C-terminus to facilitate binding to a resin. A further retro-inverso form was prepared replacing the extra glycine with a cholesterol moiety attached via a sulfhydryl linker group. The addition of the cholesterol moiety improved penetration due to the increased hydrophobicity of the molecule.
This development of the retro-inverso form of penetratin has given rise to WO 97/12912 that discloses peptides of 16 amino acids comprising between 6 and 10 hydrophobic amino acids wherein the sixth amino acid from either end is tryptophan. This disclosure attempts to define the minimal characteristics of sequences capable of acting as internalisation vectors.
Penetratin, its analogues and retro-inverso forms have therefore been described as being of use as a carrier to facilitate the cellular internalisation of conjugated peptides or oligonucleotides.